Mobile Engagement

If they have your app, they are your most engaged audience — period. And that allows you to reach your most loyal users with messages that are carefully targeted for the right user, at the right place and right time to deepen their mobile engagement.
Getting mobile engagement right isn’t easy, but we’ve helped many top brands build great mobile experiences for their customers. Get some of our best ideas below, and download our mobile engagement white paper to learn more.

Gearing up for the 2017 School Year
Ready or not, school either has or is about to begin. And if you are a university or academic organization, communicating with students is a critical part of setting them up for success.
The key? Use their phones. Mobile apps are a surefire way to communicate with this ever-so-mobile audience given the ever-present nature of their phones. Let’s explore five use cases educators and administrators can employ to ensure a greater degree of mobile…

Sprint recently teamed with Urban Airship to bring soccer fans an unforgettable experience via mobile wallet technology. As a major sponsor of the 2016 Copa América Centenario, Sprint helped celebrate fans’ passion for soccer in the tournament’s 100th year, which was held for the first time ever outside of South America in 10 locations across the United States. As part of the sponsorship, Sprint offered a sweepstakes with the chance to win daily prizes — the first ever sweepstakes of…

Really? The Kardashians?
Yes. Their brand empire extends to your phone! Mobile offers another channel for stars to engage with fans, and to make money.
Since its June 2014 launch, the mobile gaming app, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has been downloaded 42 million times, and brought in more than $100M, making it an app store hit. Following on this success, Kim, Khloe, Kylie, Kendall and Kourtney each launched their own mobile apps in September 2015. The subscription-based apps offer…

What is In-App Messaging?
An in-app message is content that is seen when the user launches the app. The message can appear at the bottom or the top of the app’s screen for a set duration, or until the user interacts with the message. When a new in-app message is sent, it replaces the old message.
Neiman Marcus uses in-app messaging to alert users to a new product [see top of app screen].]
Benefits of In-App Messaging
In-app messages reach your entire app audience and drive mobile…

Seven years ago we introduced Urban Airship to mobile app developers at WWDC 2009, handing out coffee and donuts to the hording masses waiting to get in. We didn't have a ticket to attend ourselves, but we had the first functioning third-party push notification service that made it easy to use this brand new form of communication.
Fast-forward through lots of change and Urban Airship now regularly delivers one billion notifications a day for 40,000 apps including some of the best known…

Have you ever uninstalled an app from your phone because you were getting too many push notifications? Or wondered why your flight information is popping up as a text message, rather than in your mobile wallet?
Bad messaging channel choices, that’s why. Mobile devices offer a huge number of different ways to connect with your users and customers. Each channel is best suited to convey different types of messages. It’s imperative to choose the right one for the message you want to…

The Client
eir is Ireland’s leading telecommunications provider and operator and owner of mobile subdivision, Meteor. The company puts their customers first in order to create an easy to understand, straightforward mobile phone service and plans, paired with superb deals and exceptional customer service.
The Strategy
Meteor created the My Meteor app, which allows customers instant access to their account information, such as viewing data consumption, viewing calls and check their…

There’s a lot of discussion right now about what will make apps more successful. There’s even been discussion that we’re seeing the end of apps. While it’s certainly true that some apps are failing, it’s a massive overstep to suggest the best days are behind them and that it’s time to look at the next thing. Instead, just like businesses were trying to figure out how to integrate the web into their go to market approach 10 or so years ago, the use of apps is going through a similar…

When it comes to mobile, we’re all growth hackers. We need to be able to identify the most effective, efficient ways to grow mobile business — and fast. Attend our webinar on June 23rd and learn hree tactics growth hackers can use to generate sustainable results in mobile.

As a major sponsor of the 2016 Copa América Centenario, Sprint is helping to celebrate fans' passion for soccer in the tournament's 100th year, which is being held for the first time ever outside of South America in 10 locations across the United States. Sprint is helping fans stay connected to the games with a personalized mobile wallet pass powered by Urban Airship.

What Is Mobile Engagement?
Mobile engagement is the act of engaging a user through available messaging channels inside and outside of an app. Companies use mobile engagement to deliver positive brand experiences, support their business goals and build valuable, long-term relationships.
Engagement typically starts the moment a user downloads your app. Showing users your app’s value from the very beginning is essential to building a long-term relationship that keeps them coming…

If your message causes your best customers’ phones to vibrate, it better be relevant. The Urban Airship Strategic Services group takes this to heart every time we partner with a brand. Hear how we go about developing the optimal mobile messaging strategy for our clients and their users.

Let’s face it — despite the intent, travel vacations can be stressful. Whether it’s last minute changes, delays, getting lost or not having the proper information about your destination, traveling can sometimes border on maddening. But isn’t the whole point of vacations to relax?
We’ve pulled together a few types of apps where brands have tried to simplify the travel experience and ensure a great trip. Their goal is to provide great utility in the planning and travel phase, as well as…

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According to our latest benchmarks, roughly 55% of app users say "thanks, but no thanks" to app push notifications. It is imperative to be able to communicate to your app users because they are often your most valuable customers. So how can you engage them elsewhere? How about in the app? While push notifications are one of the most ubiquitous forms of mobile messaging, they are not the only way to reach…

Ever wish two of your best friends were closer? It would make life so much easier … for you. That’s what we’re aiming for with two key new integrations.
Many of our customers love Google Analytics. It’s the de facto standard tool for web analytics, and, increasingly, companies are adopting it for app analytics too. It’s outstanding for aggregate user reporting and insights, it’s a comfortable tool that requires little retraining and it’s always improving.
And our customers use Urban…

Every day, more than 1 billion people worldwide look to AccuWeather for forecasts to help plan their lives. But is having an app important for a weather service? The answer is a resounding “yes” — in fact, it’s a main driver for AccuWeather’s overall traffic, with 5x more traffic via mobile platforms vs. website directly.
The Client
As the world’s leading weather forecast service, AccuWeather brings cutting-edge climate information directly to users’ screens — both on its website and…

A 300% increase in redemption after a single notification. A 16x increase in web traffic. These statistics are a marketer’s dream, right? Redbox actually achieved them through their work with Urban Airship.

When you’re a retailer, or anyone who executes holiday campaigns really, planning for the holidays starts in spring so we’re sharing some secrets to help maximize your mobile campaigns in our May 5th webinar. Mobile can drive consumers to visit your store, help them save money, share the latest promotion or sale and — on the purchasing front — helps serve as an in-store companion or even as the primary channel for conversion.

As we approach Mother's Day here in the U.S., I've been thinking about all of the tools I use as I prepare to become a momma. Not surprisingly, I downloaded several pregnancy and baby apps on my journey, and would love to share a few takeaways that could be applied to any app.

We know mobile messaging is tough. The ramifications of the wrong message can be high, and making sure you’re providing utility to your recipients can be challenging. What you feel is important enough to share may not be important in your user’s eyes. And with the ever-present fear of app deletion at play, you want to get it right.

Many companies in the consideration stage of growing direct mobile relationships with customers might start by assessing if the expense compared against the benefit. Calculating a proposed return on investment (ROI) before committing to a new expense can be challenging, but good news! We worked with Forrester Consulting to help with the task.

Just a few weeks ago we wrote about the yin and yang of technology to describe the noisy, hype-filled way new innovations take root, capturing mindshare before commercial viability and adoption. This week, we're offering you the latest view into the tactics marketers and digital business professionals are actually using or actively planning to pilot, bringing a dose of on-the-ground, in-the-trenches, state-of-today reality to the conversation.

Whatever way you choose to measure a dormant user, they pose challenges to data hygiene and often uninstall the app. But avoiding uninstallation isn’t your only goal. Disengagement is much more common and has the same effect — lack of conversion and, likely, loss of revenue.

Let’s face it — the landscape of advertising has changed radically over the past two decades. New channels have emerged and gained momentum, but what has the customer benefit been? Have advertisers, marketers, brands and publishers used new tactics, technology and thinking to provide unique opportunities to customers? How are consumers taking matters into their own hands? What does this all mean for media brands?

Our team just returned from SXSW where we hosted our fourth annual Mobile Saturday, bringing together customers, experts and partners to focus on key mobile topics. I’m constantly amazed at the quality of discussion and practical advice that’s shared, but it’s always the one-liners that incredibly and memorably sum up the status quo. Technology inspires a culture of innovation — a bright and shiny, constant reimagining of the future.

In addition to push notifications, using message center to share content and new information should be a vital part of your app’s mobile engagement strategy. But if that hasn’t already convinced you to add one into your app, findings from our new benchmarks data report may do the trick.

Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but it’s still fair to say “love is in the air” now that The New York Times’ popular Modern Love column has added a new audio experience with Modern Love: The Podcast. For those unfamiliar, the Modern Love column has published weekly reader-submitted essays that explore the joys and tribulations of love for 11 years and running. The podcast, produced in collaboration with WBR (Boston’s NPR News station), carries this sentiment over.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner and it’s got us thinking about how apps can make lasting connections with their users. There’s a wealth of general tactics and strategies to be learned from different industries or verticals that can used to drive closer mobile engagement, including dating apps. So why do dating apps captivate and engage their users so well? Just good mobile app strategy? That, and simply put, many of the top apps follow key tenets of a successful relationship — listen and learn, keep things fresh and respect each other.

Innovative Uses for Mobile Wallet, Series 2 of 5
When you sign up for a gym membership, it's almost guaranteed that you'll receive a member card. That’s one more card you have to carry around or remember to take with you when you go for your workout. Why not offer an eco-friendly, cost saving, easy to use mobile wallet option instead?
For some of us, remembering and or getting motivated to go to the gym is a challenge in itself. And your gym wallet pass can help with that too —…

At Urban Airship, our commitment to our customers is one of the most important tenets we hold. This translates to our approach in working with our customers — ensuring that they get the best expertise, advice, and use of our technology set. With our mobile wallet solution, Urban Airship Reach, we practice this very same philosophy, both externally with our customers and in-house among ourselves.

Conversion for a brand can mean a variety of different things, depending on your industry, business goals and audience. However, every brand relies on conversion to fuel their business — so how can marketers help optimize their strategy and be rewarded by their customers?

In 2016, we expect to see candidate apps using increasingly personal messaging to rally supporters. Ted Cruz and Ben Carson have official campaign apps and there a number of supporter-led apps for Bernie Sanders. We expect to see more campaign-led candidate apps as the election continues.
While the goals of reaching supporters, educating them on issues, and mobilizing constituents to action remain the same, big data and new mobile messaging tools will allow political campaigns richer access to detailed constituent behaviors, location, and real time responses.
Here’s how the candidates might use these tools.